To refresh our memory…

In June 2012, Google announced that Gmail had 425 million active users globally. In May 2015, Google announced that Gmail had 900 million active users, 75% of whom were using the service on mobile devices. In February 2016, Google announced that Gmail had passed 1 billion active users. (Source: Wikipedia)

With this consideration, this change plays an important role in our business as we know that there are millions of Gmail users. This means that many businesses have Gmail users as their subscribers.

Let’s lay the cards here with the new change

The Google Promotions Tab also knew as marketing email purgatory. This has been a thorn for those businesses that have been fighting their email to reach the inbox of their subscribers to promote their goods and services. 

On the lighter note, The new Promotion tab in Gmail rewards the brands that provide the most value to the subscribers with more a prominent place in the Promotion tab and a new, more visual way to present their offer.

According to expert, Chris Lang estimates that Gmail has between 450 and 550 different indicators of quality that will decide the fate of each email that’s sent via Gmail.

Something to keep in mind is to not use your own Gmail inbox to test whether or not your emails are getting to your targeted audience. “Spamming yourself” will not work because you’re reading your messages.

Everything is based on individual behavior. So just because one person says they’ve gone to promotions, doesn’t mean to goes with everyone.

What are the benefits for Email Marketers?

Opportunity to stand out in the crowd

The New Promotions tab makes the best email stand out more, giving marketers full control over messaging and visual appearance of their email within a bundle. Here’s house to customize.

Single Image Preview

Say goodbye to a text-only Promotions tab. Add a custom image to your email with product or lifestyle imagery to give Gmail users a sneak peek of your email’s message.

Green deal badge

This is space for you to extend your email messaging to provide details on the value of the deal you’re offering. “20% Off,” “Free Shipping,” or “Buy 1 get 1 free” are great examples. There is technically no character limit, although the text in your badge may be cut off or truncated based on the total character count of all features used. The Email preview tool we’ve partnered with Gmail on will help you see if your text is getting truncated.

Grey discount code badge

Populate this field to prominently feature your discount code in the deal preview. This field is optional, so if your email doesn’t feature a discount code, you can omit the grey discount code badge.

Logo

Display your logo so it shows in the preview of an email when populated in the bundle, enabling your subscribers to quickly identify email from your brand with a quick glance.

Expiration date

Give your subscribers insights into when the offers in your email expire. A powerful way to create urgency!

A CHANCE TO GET YOUR EMAIL FEATURED MORE THAN ONCE

Setting an expiration date for your deals allows an email two opportunities to get featured at the top in a bundle: once when it is first sent, and again before the offer expires. That’s two chances to get your subscribers to take action—without you having to resend the email.

HOW TO ENABLE ENRICHED PREVIEWS IN THE PROMOTIONS TAB

While any promotional email can get pulled into a bundle, the enriched preview featuring the custom image, logo, and deal details will only display if you annotate your email HTML. Annotation happens through a custom bit of JSON code that specifies deal details—discount codes, the type of offer, and a featured image, for example.

EMAIL ANNOTATION FOR GMAIL MADE EASY

Can’t write JSON code? You don’t have to. We’ve teamed up with Gmail to make sure you’ve got the tools you need to annotate your email without having to learn new coding skills. Litmus’ Gmail Promotions Builder lets you set your deal details and export your code without writing a single line of JSON.

Annotate your emails → (https://litmus.com/community/gmail-promotions-builder)

LITMUS PARTNERS WITH GMAIL TO HELP EMAIL MARKETERS GET THE MOST OUT OF GMAIL’S NEW PROMOTIONS TAB

Plus, together with Gmail we’ll make sure that you have the knowledge you need to utilize the power of the new Promotions tab, learn about common mistakes, and understand the best practices to make your email even more valuable for Gmail users.

WE’RE EXCITED TO TEAM UP WITH LITMUS TO EMPOWER MARKETERS WITH THE KNOWLEDGE AND TOOLS THEY NEED TO OPTIMIZE THEIR EMAIL FOR THE NEW PROMOTIONS TAB AND DELIVER MORE VALUE TO OUR USERS.

JORDAN GROSSMAN

PRODUCT MANAGER, GMAIL 

Source: Litmus

How to send emails to the Primary Tab?

The only way to make your email campaign land on the primary tab is to maintain a healthy subscribers list and encourage your subscribers who are engaged with you to make the change in their Gmail account to move your campaigns to the Primary tab.

Encourage your subscriber to do this:

Add your "From email address" to their Google Contacts

Emails from a subscriber's Google Contacts always go to their Primary inbox. In confirmation pages, welcome emails, and campaign content, ask your subscribers to add your ‘’From email address’’ to their Google Contacts.

Move your emails to the Primary tab

Subscribers can teach Gmail where to deliver your messages. When a subscriber moves one of your campaigns from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab. If you have engaged subscribers who want your emails to appear in the Primary tab, share these Gmail Help instructions.